Why is Cecil Adams said to be the most intelligent person in the word? Is that based on his IQ, or is it only a publicity slogan?
Because he is. I mean… duh.
I really would like to receive an acceptable answer.
From the Straight Dope FAQ:
And what the hell is acceptable?
Okay, a serious answer. (You won’t get many, by the way, although I notice you had the foresight to place this enquiry in GQ, demonstrating a commendable familiarity with this place for a new poster.) “Cecil Adams” is a composite of the various people that work as staff at the SDMB (mostly on a voluntary basis, of course), as, for example, administrators, moderators, ex-moderators and staff-report writers. That’s not to say that all those who fall into these categories form part of the composite, of course. Some are not sufficiently qualified in terms of specialist knowledge.
Others will no doubt provide links to the site where Ed Zotti is identified with “Cecil”. But whether it ever was the case, it certainly is no longer the case that Ed equals “Cecil”, in the sense of writing all his stuff. His major job vis a vis “Cecil” would be to ensure that a consistent style (the delivery in a relaxedly witty style of super-factual answers to off-beat questions) is maintained within an across all writings that appear under the name “Cecil Adams”.
Wait wait wait. Cecil ISN’T a real person??? Then why didn’t someone didn’t just step up and take the fall for that sticky about politics at the top of the GQ forum?
Well Cecil has certain physical abnormalities in the form of flippers instead of arms and legs, and very dry skin to be that require him to him to spend vast amounts of time in an indoor swimming pool filled with milk. Not wishing to waste his time idling he acquired a water proofed copy of the World Book encyclopedia and set his mind toward becoming the World’s most knowledgeable man. Where does knowledge end and intelligence begin? Who knows? Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?
This is quite incorrect.
Left out of the loop, I see…
<mod>
Let’s see what kind of response we can get from the fine folks in MPSIMS.
Moving…now.
</mod>
Blasphemy, I say, blasphemy!
Cecil Adams IS a real person.
mommy?!
It’s serious stuff, Doopliss. Tabs are kept on apostates and renegades. Files can be brought up at the drop of a hat. Computers can be disab………………………………………………………………………………………………
You are quite incorrect. The volunteers are mostly, if not entirely, moderating staff. If moderators or members of the SDSAB want to answer something, we do it as a Staff Report, not as one of Cecil’s Columns. Now, occasionally Cecil will ask for leads on information on a column he’s contemplating, but he’ll do most of the research and all of the writing himself.
In short, don’t answer a question unless you know the answer.
Lynn
Administrator
For the Straight Dope.
Cecil’s a big boy. I’m sure he’ll be along in a while to answer for himself. Even if he doesn’t do vanity searches, one of his acolytes will have tipped him off by now.
If that turns out to be the case, then it’ll be his first MPSIMS post since January 1st.
Even a Perfect Master should need to poke around in here a tad bit more often.
Hubris.
To add to what others have said, Cecil’s been writing his column since 1973. The SDMB has only been around since 1999. The SDSAB is also a fairly recent phenomenon. In the old days it was just Cecil and an editor.
As for the OP, Cecil Adams is an office as well as a man, a bit like being the Pope or the Green Lantern. Being the worlds smartest human is part of that office. It’s a lot like Papal infallibility. It can’t be proven scientifically, you simply take it on faith. You’re free to disbelieve, of course, as long as you don’t mind roating in the fires of hell in the life to come.
Note that Cecil will sometimes challenge readers with statements that seem to be “errors.” As the faithful know these so-called mistakes are merely tests of our fidelity and our ability to use our brain power in the noble if ultimately futile effort to become more like Cecil. He is the only person allowed to say “My post is my cite.”
There is a story that if we have used critical thinking and fessed up to our errors when they’re pointed out, then after we shuffle off this mortal coil we find ourself delivered to a beautiful place where surreal cartoons are real, where double-posts are self-correcting, and where final enlightenment of all things is possible and harmony amoung beings a result.
Conversely, if we do not do these things, and even revel in our own ignorance, we find ourselves condemned to an ever-tightening downward spiral in a place where circumcision is blamed for all our ills, where falsehood parades as fact by intentioned obfuscation, and where nature’s simultaneous four-day cubic creation propels our lives inexorably timeward.
In the fullness of time, all things will be revealed.
[Tony Curtis]
I am Cecil Adams!
[/Tony Curtis]